In which it is proven that I am an idiot while Steele is not

I came home from work today and decided to do a bit of work with Steele before supper. I decided that a trek down to get the mail would be the perfect ticket. So off we headed and he was lovely. I could hear Irish calling but ignored it because he needs to deal with Steele leaving the same way Steele needs to deal with Irish leaving. When I was 3/4 down the long driveway I heard galloping behind us and my heart dropped. We turned to see Irish gleefully galloping down towards us. So here I am with a youngster on a lead, 2 dogs and full grown horse running around the lawn. The only thing to do was to head back and let Irish follow. I figured he would come back into the barn. In the meantime I was trying to figure out what kind of mess I would find in the stable- I figured he busted his door.

I kept my body language very low key and spoke soothingly. I have to say that I was beyond impressed with him. Irish came trotting by us and Steele went to trot with him. All I said was 'whoa' and shook the lead line a bit and he came right back to me. All the way up the driveway. Once Irish blew past and away and Steele became a little upset about it but again, he came right back to me. So we walked all the way up the driveway.  I did not want to or give the impression that there was any reason to panic. And he didn't. I was beyond impressed. It's not every full grown horse, let alone a youngster that could deal with this situation with the calmness that he displayed. And the trust to stay with me and listen to me rather then join his buddy in mayhem.

When I got back to the barn I saw that the issue was me: I had left Steele's outside door and stall door open so Irish simply came through his stall. Talk about feeling like an idiot.

Thank heavens I have this sensible Spanish horse. One of us needs a brain. ;)